Light Through The Clouds
by silverliningineachcloud
Summary: A story of two girls,both suffering in their own worlds, who find that even when life is full of crap, having a sister (even if she's technically a foster sister) can sometimes make life better. But sometimes, they're not sure if it's enough to survive the tough world they have to deal with everyday. Anna & Elsa (sisterly love, no slash!) Starts w/ them as children.
1. Hello

_**Hey sorry i had to delete this story and put it back up because it wasn't really showing up for some reason! but it's back :)**_

_**thanks to my wonderful two reviewers whose reviews had to be deleted when I reposted this story! I'm sorry I had to do it but it wasn't showing up for some people :(**_

* * *

_**I have no idea what I'm doing. But I wanted to throw this out there and see if I got any response. **_

_**I actually really enjoyed writing this!**_

_**Sorry the writing's a little rough around the edges, I wanted to get it onto paper before inspiration left.**_

_**Don't worry. I will keep working on Into the Snow, I am by no means abandoning it!**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen**_

_**Please let me know if I should keep going! Leave a review! :)**_

* * *

Elsa Winters stared at her new room without any sign of emotion on her small pale face. It was not her first foster home and she doubted it would be her last. At eight years old, she had been in the system for a little under a year.

The social worker, Cindy- Elsa was pretty sure her name was Cindy- was in the other room talking to the foster parents.

"_She's pretty easy, she doesn't talk much, but she doesn't cause any problems._.." she heard her say.

Elsa put down her small suitcase of belongings sat down on the bed. The room was tiny, the one bed took up most of the space.

But the walls were light blue and Elsa liked blue. And there was a big window on the east wall. And Elsa liked windows too.

There was a knock on the door and Cindy's slightly round form entered. Elsa briefly looked at her with her huge blue eyes then dropped her gaze.

"Alright Elsa, I have to go now. You be a good girl and I'll be back to check on you later!"

Cindy didn't wait for a response from Elsa, knowing that wouldn't get one.

The social worker left and the small platinum blonde sat on the bed silently.

Her new foster parents- was it Jill and Scott?- didn't come to say hello but she didn't expect them to. She had known the moment she walked into the house that they didn't really want her from the way their smiles had spread stiffly across their faces in obvious faked happiness.

"Hello!"

Elsa nearly fell off the bed.

A small girl had crawled out from underneath the bed. Her red hair was in two short very very crooked messy pigtails. She wore a stained green dress with brown leggings underneath,which had a huge hole at the right knee.

"I'm Anna!" the girl chirped, giving Elsa a big smile which showed off a missing front tooth.

Elsa just stared at the little girl, her blue eyes huge.

"I'm six years old, how old are you?" Anna was almost bouncing up and down. She seemed unable to stand still.

"I'm eight."

"What's your name?" Anna wanted to know.

"Elsa."

"That's a pretty name!" Anna approved.

Suddenly, much to her shock, Elsa found herself being hugged by the tiny little girl.

"I'm so excited you're here! Now I'll have someone to play with! We'll be like sisters!"

"I didn't know there was another kid at this home," Elsa managed to find her voice.

Anna released Elsa from her hug,blinking her large blue green eyes. "Well, I get forgotten a lot."

The expression on the little girl's face was suddenly much older than it should be. Then the look was gone.

"Do you like your room?" Anna spun around, her dress billowing out.

"Yes... It's very nice." Elsa found herself becoming engaged despite herself. For some reason, she didn't want to disappoint Anna.

"It's my room! Or it was, but now it's yours. We even bought you a bed," Anna patted the light blue covers.

"You didn't have a bed before?"

"Uh-uh. But I heard Mommy and Daddy say that you need a bed if you're going to come live here. Daddy told Mommy they would get the money back from you being here." Anna climbed onto the bed and bounced slightly. "Beds are fun 'cause you can bounce on them."

Watching the small girl jump up and down, her messy pigtails bouncing and mouth open in a laugh, a smile spread across Elsa's face.

"Jump with me!" Anna begged, grabbing Elsa's arm.

"Oh no..." Elsa shook her head.

"Pleaseeeee," Anna pleaded. "Please please please Elsa?"

"No, I really..."

"Pretty please with a cherry on top and whipped cream and marshmallows and snowflakes?"

"Snowflakes?" Elsa cocked her head.

"Yep. Cause snowflakes are the most delicious things ever!" Anna accidentally bounced straight into Elsa and they banged heads.

"Whoops!" Anna giggled and rubbed her head.

"You're crazy," Elsa told the six-year-old, a smile growing on her face.

"Nope nope nope!" Anna got up and jumped on the bed again. "Come on Elsa, you gotta jump with me!"  
"Or what?" Elsa raised her eyebrows playfully.

"Or... Uh... Or I'm gonna... I'm gonna..." Anna couldn't think of what she was going to do and stopped bouncing, a confused look on her face. "You're mean!" she pouted.

Elsa laughed out loud, she couldn't help it. "I'm sorry."

"I didn't actually mean it. You're nice. You're the nicest person I know," Anna told Elsa. "Even though I just met you, I can tell you're nice. I like you."

"I like you too," Elsa told her. Because she felt like she had to. But also because she actually meant it.

"But you've got to jump with me," Anna ordered, taking Elsa's hand and looking at her pleadingly. "Please Elsa."

Elsa got up and jumped on the bed for the first time in her life.

* * *

Elsa turned in her bed, pushing the blanket back. She always preferred being cold over being hot.

The walls were thin and she was listening to a conversation between Anna and her mom.

"Mommy..."

"Quiet Anna."

"I'm sorry, I just dunno where to sleep." Anna's voice was small.

There was a long sigh.

"Maybe..."

"She can figure it out, Jill." Anna's dad's voice called out from a different room. "Come here, Jill darling."

"There are blankets on the couch." Jill told Anna before her footsteps headed to a different room.

Elsa turned onto her back, staring at the peeling paint on the ceiling. She wasn't going to get attached. This was just another foster home, just another stop on the ever stretching road. And judging how neglectful this house was, she wouldn't be here long. And Elsa couldn't care less. Jill and Scott wanted her for the government money, it was pretty clear.

She waited until all was silent, save the creaking and groaning of the house. And then she got up and crept out of her room. Anna was curled up on the couch, a blanket wrapped tightly around her tiny frame.

"Anna?" Elsa whispered. Anna immediately sat up, clearly not asleep.

Elsa could see the faint shimmer of tears on her cheeks.

"Elsa?"

"Want to share the bed with me?"

As Elsa lay in bed with Anna snuggled up against her, she couldn't help but feel a sort of protective sense towards the six-year-old.

It was only the first night and somehow Anna had already wormed her way into her heart.

So much for not getting attached.

* * *

_**Just getting the basics down, of course there would need to be more character development and back stories! **_

_**I hope I didn't take things to fast, what do you think? Elsa is younger and I could see even if she's withdrawn how she'd feel sorry for Anna and want to help her despite her more private nature. Plus, that was something she developed as she got older anyways.**_

_**What do you think?**_

_**So what's the verdict? Should I keep going?**_


	2. Day One

_**Whoooo new chapter!**_

_**Review please? **_

_**Thanks to those who reviewed, followed, or favorited! It means a ton! :)**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. Seriously, who do you think I am.**_

_**I also don't own the various other characters that show up.**_

* * *

"Elsa!"

Elsa burrowed her head in her pillow.

"Elsa! Wake up!"

Suddenly she was being shaken. Elsa groaned and rolled over to find a small redheaded girl peering into her face.

Elsa was all of a sudden very awake. She wasn't used to people being close to her let alone _on top of her._

She squirmed out of the bed, rubbing her arm. Anna seemed oblivious to her discomfort.

"School is today!" Anna was bouncing around. "I love school, I have the nicest teacher _ever_. Her name's Ms. Belle and she's so pretty. She helps me with my reading..."

Elsa only half listened as Anna flew back and forth across the room, pulling her favorite blue sweater out of her suitcase.

"How do we get there?" Elsa asked. Anna stopped her high speed talking to answer.

"We walk. I'll show you the way. And if we get there early enough, we can get free breakfast! They have it there for kids who..." Anna paused, her tiny form pausing as she thought. "Well, for kids like us," she finished. "Are you ready?"

"Aren't you going to change your clothes?" Elsa looked at Anna who was wearing the same grubby green dress and brown leggings. Anna looked down at her clothes and shrugged.

"No, I want to wear this."

"Okay," Elsa shrugged. She grabbed her backpack; she had packed it the previous night with her school supplies and some folders. "Hold on let me talk to your parents really quick."  
"Uh, you shouldn't wake them up." Suddenly Anna was in front of Elsa, blocking her path, blue eyes wide.

"They probably need to come with me to get me registered for school." Elsa had been through the new school routine more times than she cared for. She stepped around Anna and walked across the hall. Pausing in front of the door, she raised her hand and knocked.

Nothing.  
Elsa was aware of Anna watching her from around the corner.

She knocked again, harder.

"Go away!"

"Um, it's Elsa..." she raised her voice.

"Go away!"

"I wanted to ask you something..."

"God damn it is that you Anna?! Shut up or I'll beat your miserable hide!"

"No, this is Elsa, I... I was wondering if you should come with me to school to get me registered and stuff?"

There was a pause. And suddenly the door creaked open. Anna's dad, Scott, leaned against the wall, a scowl on his face.  
"Look Elsa, just go to school and figure it out. We're your foster parents, not your babysitters. Got it, sweetheart?"

Elsa clenched her hands into fists at his condescending tone. She stared at the man with something like hatred in her blue eyes.

"You got a problem?" Scott leaned closer.

Elsa slowly shook her head.

* * *

"They're busy this morning. They couldn't come get me registered," Elsa told the secretary, a pretty old woman with very oval features and bright green eyes. Anna was clinging to her hand. She had latched on after they had left the house and hadn't let go. Elsa wasn't sure how to get her off. Maybe there was some sort of secret button somewhere? Or a magic phrase?

"I'm sorry, we had no idea the Kingsleys were getting a foster child. Can they come in later today?" the grey haired woman asked kindly.

"I don't think so."

The secretary looked concerned. Elsa spotted a name plaque on her desk. _Ellie Fredricksen_.

"Let me give them a call. What's the house number?"  
"I don't know."

"Cell phone?"  
"I don't know." Elsa turned to Anna. "Anna do you know how to call your parents?"

"Nope!" Anna was distracted by a blond boy who was sitting across the office, occupying herself by making faces at him.

"Alright, well they should be in our files. Aha, here it is."  
However after dialling the number it became clear nobody was going to pick up.

A bell rang, causing Elsa to jump.

"I'm late," Anna informed Elsa, not at all concerned.

"Go then," Elsa told her, trying to shake her off.  
"How long do I have to wait?" the blond boy complained from across the room.

"Anna, please go to your class sweetie. Elsa, wait here for a moment, Kristoff, I'll go see if Principal Triton is in. Please tell me your parents came to get that... that creature."

"His name is Sven! And he's a Saint Bernard," the blond boy protested.

"I don't care what he is as long as he's not here at school! Anna! Go to class please!"

"I want to see Sven!" Anna nearly shouted.

"Kristoff, go back to the office, Principal Triton is able to see you. Anna, go to class, Ms. Belle is going to worry, and Elsa, hang on a moment." Secretary Ellie stood up and gently nudged Anna down the hall and led Kristoff back to an office, leaving Elsa standing awkwardly alone.

* * *

By the time they finally got in contact with Elsa's foster parents, got one of them to come, and filled out paperwork, Elsa was just in time for the last hour of school.

_You're not going to be here long, none of this matters._ She reminded herself.

She hated the initial moment she had to step into the room and all eyes turned to stare at her...  
Elsa tried to ignore them and instead looked for the teacher, who turned out to be a tall bald man with a very very long nose.

"This is Elsa Winters," Ellie told the teacher, placing a comforting hand on Elsa's shoulder. Elsa appreciated the gesture but wished the kind secretary wouldn't do that; she didn't like being touched.

"Hello Elsa. Velcome to our class!" The teacher spoke with a strange accent that Elsa couldn't place.

"Mr. Gru will be your teacher," Ellie told Elsa. "Have fun!" she gave Elsa a warm smile then left.

"Miss Elsa. Please have a seat over by Astrid. Astrid, raise your hand so Elsa knows who you are."

A blonde girl raised her hand, spiky bracelets running down her arm, narrowing her blue eyes as she did so.

"Now class, what do you think we're going to do next?" Mr. Gru asked the class as soon as Elsa was seated.

"Learn fractions?" a skinny brown haired boy suggested.

"Hiccup you are absolutely... WRONG!" Mr. Gru raced across the classroom to a tarp covered lump on a table. "Underneath this cloth is a very secret device which will allow one of you," Mr. Gru pointed at the class "to speed down the hall so we can learn about friction. Now, this super rare device..."

"Is it a go cart?" Astrid asked.

Mr. Gru's face froze. Then he recovered.  
"No! Absolutely not. This is definitely NOT a go cart."

"It's a go cart, isn't it?" Astrid crossed her arms.

Gru's face fell.

"Yes. Yes it is a go cart," he sighed, pulling the tarp off to reveal the most rickety go cart Elsa had ever seen. It looked like he had built it himself.

"I built it myself!"

"This isn't really conventional teaching is it?" Elsa muttered to herself.

"You got that right," Astrid told her. "How old are you?"

"I'm nine."

"I'm nine and a half," Astrid said triumphantly. "You're new here?"

"Yeah." Elsa doodled on a piece of paper about friction. "I just moved here."

Story of her life.

* * *

"Elsa! Elsa! Elsa! Elsa come meet my teacher!"

The presence of Anna was like a hurricane, Elsa decided as she found herself suddenly being dragged down the hall minutes after leaving her classroom for the day.

"Okay, okay," Elsa tried to pull her arm away from the tiny girl. "I'm coming!"

They passed a bunch of drawings of flowers in crayon, Anna only pausing to identify her own to Elsa.

The door to the first grade room was covered in bright posters. The room was no different; almost every surface possible was covered with cheerful signs and drawings.

"Ms. Belle! Ms. Belle!" Anna was practically shouting.

"What is it Anna?" A slim brunette came into view from behind a bookcase.

"This is Elsa! She's my new sister!" Anna squealed. Elsa raised her eyebrows at the proclamation from the small girl.

She had taken pity on the girl for one night and let her sleep in her bed, talked and played with her for a little bit and now they were sisters?

"Nice to meet you Elsa," Ms. Belle smiled, her large brown eyes kind, if not a little puzzled.

"Jill and Scott, uh Anna's parents, are my new foster parents," Elsa explained quickly.

"Ah," Ms. Belle's eyes filled with understanding. "How are you liking Walt Elementary?"

"It's nice." Elsa didn't say anything else.

"Elsa, can we play on the playground for a little while?" Anna tugged on Elsa's hand.

"Shouldn't we go home?"

Anna began to say something, glanced at her teacher and shut her mouth.

"Alright,we'll go to the playground."

"YAY! Come on, I'll race you there!" The tiny redhead raced out of the room.

"Nice meeting you, Elsa," Ms. Belle smiled at the pale girl.

Elsa nodded and moved to the door.

"Oh and Elsa? Take care of her?" The look in the young teacher's eyes spoke volumes.

Elsa nodded once more and walked down the hall.

* * *

"Do you believe in the tooth fairy?" Anna suddenly asked Elsa. They were sitting on the top of the play structure, between the slide and monkey bars.

The words _no, she's made up_ almost slipped out of Elsa's mouth but the look in Anna's big blue eyes stopped her.

"Yeah. Of course she's real. Don't you get money under your pillow?"

"I lost my first tooth a little while ago, and she didn't come," Anna admitted. "I put it under my pillow but it was still there in the morning. Maybe I did it wrong?"

There was a sort of fierce hope in the tiny girl's eyes as she stared up at Elsa.

Elsa had no idea why, but suddenly this seemed to matter a lot.

"Well... the Tooth Fairy is pretty busy! Imagine all those teeth she has to get!"

"Yeah, like probably even a hundred every night!" Anna contributed, eyes widening.

"Exactly. So, every once and while she just can't make it to every house. So she picks the nicest kids to skip _because_ she knows they'll understand and won't get mad at her!"

Elsa had absolutely no freaking idea where the words were coming from but they seemed to just flow off her tongue.

"So she picked _me_? She thinks I'm one of the nicest?!" Anna's mouth fell open.

"Seems like it," Elsa shrugged, smiling a little at Anna's amazed expression. A sudden strange warmth filled her.

"Wow. Well, she can take her time, I understand!" A huge smile spread across the girl's freckled face.

"Ready to go home?" Elsa asked. To tell the truth, her stomach was hurting so badly. She hadn't eaten all day, and was pretty sure Anna hadn't either.

"I don't know, we shouldn't go home if Daddy's _friends_ are over." Anna lowered her gaze.

"Does your dad have a job?"  
"Part of the day. And Mommy has one too.

"What do his friends do?"

"Drink beer and smoke funny smelling stuff. Sometimes they have needles and give each other shots or something," Anna shuddered. "They act weird too afterwards."

"Oh." Elsa felt a knot of dread forming in her stomach.

"But you can't tell anyone." Anna put her hand on Elsa's arm. "I wasn't supposed to tell you. You can't tell anyone, 'kay?" There was a desperate look in those young eyes. "I'll get in trouble."  
"Okay, I won't," Elsa promised quickly. Anna relaxed. "But how about we go home and check if your dad is home?"

"Okay," Anna agreed.

They began the walk home and suddenly Anna was holding Elsa's hand again. The contact made her jump slightly, but she didn't pull away. Afterall, it was probably safer to hold Anna's hand. It wasn't inconceivable that the small girl might run out into the street in front of a car.

They paused to watch an old man mow his lawn.

"Look at how good it looks after he goes over it," Anna admired. "Hi Mr. Fredricksen!" she waved.

The man didn't seem to hear her.

"He has hearing aids but sometimes he turns them off, like when he's mowing," Anna told Elsa cheerfully. "He's my friend Russel's honorary grandpa. Sometimes Russel likes to take his hearing aids out when he is sleeping. They have a dog too." Anna's expression suddenly became wistful and her grip on Elsa's hand tightened.

They both stood there on the edge of the lawn, unruly green grass barely brushing the toes of their shoes, two girls alone in the world.

The drone of the lawnmower suddenly stopped followed by a loud bang. Mr. Fredricksen mumbled and huffed under his breath as he painfully bent down to examine the machine.

"Let's go," Elsa said. She was tired of new situations and people and just wanted to go into her room and draw.

"Okay." Anna all of a sudden looked tired, her two pigtails wilting and Elsa suddenly realized how pinched the freckled face was and how skinny the legs underneath the brown torn tights were.

"Let's get some food," Elsa suggested.

* * *

Later they sat together at the lopsided kitchen table and shared a sandwich that Elsa had pulled together from the odds and ends in the fridge.

"Is the fridge usually empty?" Elsa asked as Anna ate her sandwich ravenously.

"Yeah," Anna said with mouth full of food. "Daddy uses the money for other stuff. Mommy and him argue about it sometimes."

"Oh."

Elsa had briefly wondered how the Kingsleys had gained foster parent status but realized that it wasn't that the family didn't have money; it was that the money wasn't being used in the right places. They would still pass the income requirement and if Scott stayed clean for a little while, he wouldn't mess up any drug tests. This was a family that could look alright from the outside but, as Elsa was finding out, was thoroughly rotten on the inside.

"You have dinner last night?" Elsa finally asked. Anna shook her head.

"When are your parents going to get home?"

Anna shrugged. "Depends."

"Don't people notice you're on your own all day?" Elsa wondered.

"I'm allowed to play outside but I gotta say that there's a babysitter at the house but I can play outside on my own," Anna explained. There was a sort of sad look in her eyes. A lonely look.

A little later, with Anna bouncing on the bed, singing to herself, Elsa went to her backpack and pulled out her social worker's card. She stared at the ten numbers. Ten numbers and she could be out of here, away from a neglectful home with an empty fridge, away from a set of parents who couldn't care less about her. She could play the home lottery again and maybe she would finally draw the address for a large clean house with white carpets and a golden retriever, a pool in the back, and two loving devoted parents who happened to be looking for a new foster daughter and maybe even an adopted daughter eventually.

"Elsa?"

"Yeah?" Elsa turned around, guiltily holding the card folded in her fist.

"I think tonight's the night. I think the tooth fairy is going to come tonight," Anna beamed. "I thought about what you said and it all makes sense! But I think she'll come tonight, don't you?"

Elsa paused, for a moment tightening her grip on the little piece of paper in her hand.

Then she slipped her social worker's card back into her backpack. "Yeah, I think so too."

* * *

Half an hour later Mr. Fredricksen, still grumbling and fiddling alternatively with the lawnmower and his girl with large blue eyes standing right on the edge of his lawn.

"I think your mower hit a stick or rock. I'm looking for a job, could I maybe help you?"hearing aid, trying to get his thick block-like fingers do what he wanted, looked up to find a white blond

"Eh?!" Mr. Fredricksen jerked up as his hearing aid screeched in his ear. He tilted his square face and squinted at the girl suspiciously but not unkindly.

The girl repeated her request.

* * *

**_Review? Review? Review? Pleeeeeease? _**


	3. Cold as Ice

_**Thanks for all the reviews people! :) I love them!**_

_**Hope you enjoy this chapter! I wrote it kind fast...**_

_**Review? Please?  
Disclaimer: I do not own Frozen. Or anything Disney. I'm poor,okay.**_

_**Don't forget to review ;)**_

* * *

"Elsa! Elsa!"

Elsa groaned, rolled over, and wondered if every morning from now on was going to begin this way.

"She came."

Elsa looked up to see Anna holding a dollar bill, her eyes huge with awe.

"She _actually_ came!" Anna breathed. "The tooth was gone an' everything!"

"See, I said she would," Elsa smiled. Anna's excitement was infectious.

"Whoa." Anna looked under the pillow. "Can you believe it? The tooth fairy was actually here and touched the pillow and touched this dollar!" Anna held the piece of paper up against her face.

"It's pretty crazy," Elsa agreed. "Also, I have something for us."

"You do? What?" Anna stopped bouncing on the bed, blue eyes wide with excitement.

"This!" Elsa showed Anna a box of Cheerios and some bread and peanut butter.

"Where'd you get it?!" Anna gasped. "Oh Elsa! Could I bring some of it to school for lunch, like the other kids?"

"I got it from the store with some of my own money. And of course! Just don't tell your parents. This is just for us," Elsa told Anna seriously.

Anna nodded eagerly. "I won't tell them!" She launched herself at the platinum blonde. "Thank you Elsa, you're the best ever!"

* * *

Elsa found that for some reason she was happier than she had ever been.

It made zero sense, but it was undeniable all the same.

"You're a lot more talkative than when you came here. You would just mope around then," Astrid told Elsa at recess one day.

"I wouldn't mope!" Elsa protested, adjusting her blue sweater. The air was crisp, fall beginning to turn to winter. They probably only had a few more days before it would be too cold for outdoor recess.

"Uh, yeah you would," Hiccup agreed. "And you didn't smile."

It was true. And the reason was that, for the first time in her life, Elsa found herself being needed. Anna needed her. All her life, Elsa had been unwanted and ignored. But now she had someone to love and protect and life had more meaning than it ever had before.

She had always wanted a foster home with a little sister. And the circumstances weren't ideal by any stretch of imagination. But it didn't matter because for the first time, Elsa had a family. A sister that needed her.

"Whatever," Elsa didn't bother responding to Hiccup, her eyes on the door of the school building. Her recess overlapped with Anna's and she wanted to check that the small girl's cold wasn't getting worse.

"There she is." Astrid knew exactly what Elsa was doing. Elsa never spoke to her friends about her home life, only after a while giving them the fact that she was a foster kid. But they knew her well enough to realize how protective she was of her foster sister, although not knowing exactly why.

Astrid pointed to a small redheaded girl.

"Elsa!" Anna's voice sounded funny because of her cold.

"Elsa!" Anna's friend, a little black haired girl named Vanellope, echoed.

"Hey! Are you feeling better?" Elsa knelt to look at Anna.

"Her nose is bright red!" Vanellope offered. "And she keeps coughing."

"My head feels weird," Anna complained.

"Does she feel hot to you?" Elsa asked Hiccup. The scrawny boy placed his hand on Anna's forehead.

"She feels hot," he confirmed.

Elsa bit her lip. She trusted Hiccup's assessment, the boy had a way with animals and other living beings.

"Tell her teacher, she'll take her to the nurse," Astrid suggested.

"I want to stay with you," Anna pouted, hugging Elsa tightly. Elsa took the whiny tone as another symptom of possible illness, it was unlike Anna.

Elsa considered skipping school and just taking Anna home, but her social worker was meeting her right after school. And if she wanted to stay with Anna, she had to make sure everything appeared alright and make sure she didn't skip school too much.

"Alright, let's go talk to Belle then," Elsa sighed.

* * *

When Elsa got home late in the afternoon after her meeting with the social worker, the house seemed empty.

"Anna!" Elsa called out, her pulse increasing. Hadn't the nurse sent the small girl home with a fever? She had checked after school and was told Scott had picked her up. So where was she?

"Anna!" Elsa put down her backpack and walked to her room, checking the bed.

Her pulse was rising. She should have never trusted Anna to go to the nurse and have a parent sent for her.

"Elsa!"

The cry was faint. Elsa spun around, scanning the ragged furniture and dirty floor, trying to find the source of the noise.

"Anna? Where are you?!"

"I'm here!"

"Where's here?!" Elsa followed the voice into the kitchen.

"Here!" There was a banging on the door to the basement. Elsa immediately dropped her backpack and ran to the door, her face paling.

Oh God. She should have taken Anna home. Scott had locked his own daughter in the basement.

"Hold on!" Elsa tugged at the door while Anna coughed and sniffled on the other side. "I'm gonna try to pick it okay?" It was a handy skill another foster kid had taught her once.

"It's dark, Elsa." Anna's voice made it clear she had been crying.

Elsa felt her heart break. Anna was scared of the dark.

"Just hold on. I'm coming." Elsa pulled out a paper clip.

"Daddy was scary," Anna sniffed. "He was mad the school called him to get me."

"Did he hurt you?" Elsa demanded, her voice low.

"No. Just put me in here," Anna coughed. "I said I was sorry too."

Elsa swore under her breath. Scott, she had observed, was getting worse.

There was a tiny click and Elsa threw open the door. Anna tumbled into her arms.

"Elsa, I was so scared," the small girl sobbed into her shirt.

"I'm so sorry, I should have come sooner," Elsa picked her up with a little difficulty. Anna was small, but Elsa wasn't that big herself either. Anna was trembling in her arms.

"I thought I was gonna be in there forever like last time," Anna tightened her grip on Elsa as they made their way to their bedroom.

"Do they lock you in there a lot?" Elsa helped Anna onto the bed and wrapped a blanket around her tiny frame.

"Just when I'm naughty Sometimes when I'm really bad, I havta go into the shed outside." Anna's eyes were already closed, but one hand clung to Elsa's.

Elsa watched the tiny girl sleep, her blue eyes fixed on the small freckled face.

_I'll protect you Anna. We both don't have anyone else to do it, so I'll do it for you._

* * *

Elsa locked their room that night. Nobody came home anyways.

The next day, Anna was feverish. She shivered one minute then was sweating and throwing the blankets off the next. Elsa didn't want to leave her so she stayed home too.

Scott still hadn't come home yet. Jill didn't seem to notice what Elsa and Anna did anymore.

The next day, Anna was about the same and Elsa was scared. She was only nine-years-old, albeit circumstances had caused her to act much older, and she didn't know what to do.

One day, earlier in the fall, Anna and Elsa had walked home with Belle, Anna's teacher, and found out she actually lived in the same neighborhood, although a nicer part. Elsa had noted the location and made sure she didn't forget.

Now Elsa stood on the doorstep of the house, thin jacket wrapped around her form, ready to knock.

Elsa was a pro at lying. But by the time she left, with information on how to help Anna, she knew Belle suspected something was up.

But Elsa couldn't worry about that.

And when Anna was back bouncing off the walls at school, Elsa ran into Belle in the hall.

"Elsa, I don't have enough to substantiate any report to the school. Anna won't talk to me about what is going on at home." Belle's chocolate eyes were fixed on Elsa's, the unspoken question hanging in the air between them.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Elsa wasn't about to let Anna go into the foster care system. She knew how hard it could be, first hand. If Anna was with her, she could protect her.

Belle looked at Elsa with a hint of disappointment.

"I just want to help Anna, just like you. If you ever need anything, you know where to find me."

Elsa nodded and scurried down the hall.

* * *

Walking home was harder in the cold weather. Anna seemed especially sensitive to cold, her thin frame shaking with shivers. Elsa on the other hand, wasn't very affected for some reason. However both girls loved the snow and glittering icicles.

Elsa switched from mowing lawns to shovelling snow, and the job opportunities were even better. Soon she had enough to buy Anna and herself a cheap plastic sled.

It was pure bliss to hold onto each other, screaming, rushing down a hill, snow falling around them.

However after another cold, Elsa quarantined Anna inside for a little while.  
Scott was home a lot more because it was cold. He liked to sit on the couch and let the TV blare. Elsa and Anna avoided him as much as possible, but once and awhile would claim the living room for play space when Scott retreated to his room.  
That was when the incident happened.

* * *

"I'm gonna get you!" Elsa playfully threw her arms around Anna, wrestling her gently. "I'll let you go if you give me the ball!"

"Never!" Anna shrieked, pushing Elsa away, laughing.

"I need the ball! It contains magical icey powers," Elsa whispered, making her way around the table.

"Alright then! Catch it!" Anna gleefully threw the baseball.  
Elsa moved to catch it and tripped on a bottle laying on the floor. She stretched her arm out and the ball brushed her fingertips. But she couldn't get it. The ball hit the broken leg of the rickety table the TV was perched on. It had broken earlier but was glued back into one piece. However as the ball hit it, the wood cracked again and the TV crashed to the ground.

The sound was deafening but the silence that followed was even more so.

Anna and Elsa stared at each other in silent shock. Elsa looked back at broken TV on the ground, limbs still frozen with horror. Anna was looking at her, blue eyes filled with panic.

And then all of a sudden, adrenaline surged through Elsa.

"Come on, come on!" she wrapped her arms around the smaller girl and tried to pull her out of the room. But it was too late.

"_What have you done?!"_

Anna was sobbing as she was torn away from Elsa.

"Let me go!" Elsa screamed. "Anna!"

"Elsa! Elsa!"

"Let go of her!" Elsa fought to get to the small redhead.

"Shut up! Be thankful you aren't my kid or I would tan your miserable hide, foster brat!"

Despite her fighting and screaming, Scott easily pushed the girl into the basement and locked the door.

"Anna!" Elsa pounded on the door, tears streaming down her face. "Anna!"

Anna's whimper of pain through the door caused Elsa to tug frantically at the door, her blood running cold.

_He hasn't hurt her before. _

The change in Scott's behavior scared Elsa. She banged, tugged, and kicked at the door. She _had_ to get to Anna.

A door slammed and suddenly Elsa couldn't hear Anna's sobbing anymore.

Elsa pulled and yanked at the door but it wouldn't budge. She desperately flew down the stairs into the basement and looked around for something that could help her. Suddenly she spotted an window, high up. Elsa dragged a couple boxes across the cement floor and tried stacking them. They were too heavy for her to lift. She found a bucket and turned it upside down and put a tool box on top of that. Perilously she climbed on, swaying back and forth, but managed to catch the edge of the window with her hands and pulled herself onto the sill.

Fiddling with the panes, she managed to open it, tumbling outside into the snow.

She shivered, but not from the cold.

Anna. Where was Anna?

_Sometimes when I'm really bad, I havta go into the shed outside. _Anna's words rang in her ears.

Elsa desperately ran around the house.

"Anna!" she flew to the wooden door, trying to tug it open. It was locked. "Anna are you in there?!"

"El-Elsa-a-a," Anna's small voice sobbed.

"Hold on, I'll get you out. Are you hurt?"

She could hear a sniff but no answer.

"Okay, is it serious? Are you bleeding?" Elsa frantically twisted, pulled and kicked at the door.

"J-just a little bit-t-t, I don't k-k-know where from."

"Hang on." Elsa threw her meager paperclip lock pick onto the ground in frustration after a couple minutes of fruitless effort at unlocking the door. She circled the wooden structure, checking for windows or _anything_ she could get Anna through.

"It's dark in here, Elsa." The fear in her voice was breaking Elsa's heart.

"I can't get in," Elsa stood in front of the door. Her heart was thudding in her chest _boom boom boom_.

"Elsa, p-please don't leave me!" Anna begged. Elsa leaned against the door, wishing with all her heart it would open, her heart literally breaking in her chest.

"Is there anything in there you could use to open the door?"

"No-o I don't think s-s-so." Anna's voice trembled. "I'm cold-d."

Elsa could image Anna's tiny frame shaking from the cold surrounding her, knowing how easily the small girl got chilled.

Elsa made up her mind right there.

"I'm getting help. I'm going to get Belle."

In that moment she knew that the next day she wouldn't be with Anna anymore. The foster system would swoop her out of the house and she might not see Anna ever again. This was the choice she had been dreading. Maybe she shouldn't have put it off for so long.

It would hurt Anna.

But at least Anna would be alive and _safe_.

"I will be right back, Anna. You're going to be okay, just hold on. I'll be right back."

"P-p-promise?"

"I promise."

Elsa turned and ran as fast as she could. She couldn't even feel the cold, only her heart pounding in her chest.

It seemed to take forever to get there, one step then another, seconds, minutes ticking by, time she didn't have to waste.

Finally she arrived at the small little house where she knew Belle lived. Racing up the steps, she pounded on the door. _Please please please open the door!_

"Hello?"

Belle's pretty face appeared in the door. Her brown eyes widened as she recognized Elsa, taking in her tear streaked face.

"What are you doing here Elsa? Are you okay? Is Anna okay?"

Elsa lost it and started crying.

"She's trapped, in the shed, she's hurt, I tried to stop him but he locked me in the basement. He's never hurt her before, I didn't know... I couldn't get the door open, she's cold and I didn't know what to do," Elsa broke down. "Please, I can't get her out!"

Belle's face went white. She disappeared into the house and reappeared a moment later with a box of tools.  
"Tell me where you live."

* * *

"Anna? Anna?!" Elsa called through the door as Belle running up behind her.

The silence was deafening.

Belle's face was tight and strained.

"Call 911." She handed Elsa her cell phone and pulled out a screwdriver and attacked the hinges of the door.

The door of the shed finally came off around the same time that the sirens in the distance became audible.

Anna was lying still on the floor, sweet mouth slightly open, completely still.

"Anna!" Elsa threw herself at the small girl. "Anna! It's okay. I've got you." She cradled the girl's head in her lap. "Belle!" she wailed.

"She's cold as ice," Belle gasped, touching Anna's forehead. Quickly she placed two trembling fingers on Anna's neck. "Her pulse is steady. Just hold on. The ambulance is almost here."

Elsa didn't say anything, her head bent over her foster sister's form.

Belle could barely catch the words the blond was mumbling, but they broke her heart.

"_I'm sorry Anna. I had to do it. To keep you safe. You'll be okay now. We'll always be sisters, okay? Even though I won't get to see you anymore, we'll still be sisters. Forever."_

The sirens screamed in front of the house, people jumping out of cars, police heading to the door, paramedics running towards them.

For a moment Elsa hugged Anna tighter. Then she let her be taken by the paramedics and loaded into the ambulance. She let her go. For Anna's sake.

* * *

_**Review please?**_

_**What do you think?**_


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